In the past, people were constantly sick because they didn’t have advanced exercise equipment like video game systems and micro-suede recliners. Doctors had few options. The most common treatment was a handful of leeches followed by two swigs of whiskey. After it was discovered that leeches love blood spiked with whiskey, the prescription was changed from two swigs to half a bottle.
By the time cigarettes came along, physicians were desperate for something that appeared to help people rather than kill them immediately. Tobacco was untested, uncertified, and inexplicably delicious. Doctors started prescribing cigarettes to pregnant mothers and Polio patients almost immediately.
When cigarette companies heard about this, the advertising was soon to follow.
Ironically, this model later got cancer of the shoulder.
My favorite line from this ad is “Lucky Strike, the finest cigarette you ever smoked.” Why the past tense? Is this ad intended for people in intensive care units who are covered with leeches and dying from emphysema? It seems like a delicate time to reminisce.
And remember, “Lucky Strike has an extra, secret heating process.” That must be when all the carcinogens are sealed in. “It’s Toasted!” kind of gives the secret away, doesn’t it?
Consumer: “I bet I know what your secret heating process is?”
Lucky Strike: “Not a chance, dear sir! *cough* *cough* *wheeze* *wheeze*
Consumer: “Wow, you sound great! Your lungs sound like they’re crying with the lust for adventure!”
Lucky Strike: “That’s the secret heating process in action, my boy! *gurgle* *gurgle *gurgle*
Consumer: “Anyway, the secret heating process is toasting.”
Lucky Strike: ………. “Perhaps, but I bet you can’t guess how we toast them.”
Consumer: “In a big toaster?”
Lucky Strike: *cough* *cough* *choke* *gag* *cough* “My lungs are excited by your discovery.”
Of course the big theme of this ad is that Lucky Strike cigarettes can keep you thin and fit. I guess everyone thought that was to be expected from breathing in the smoke of some random plant. I wonder how they handled house fires back in the 1930’s.
“Wow, look at that smoke. I bet the family of eight trapped in that upstairs bedroom are going to be able to jump rope for hours after this.
The girl in color is doomed if this is a splash competition.
I hope this isn’t me five years from now. That sage color won’t match my nose plug, flippers, or goggles. I’m guessing she’s wearing those little shoes so she can jump right out of the pool and polish the tar on the driveway. Shouldn’t she be holding a sponge incase the bottom of the pool needs a quick scrub?
I’m still confused about how Luckies are “your throat protection against irritation, against cough.” In lab tests when people started coughing and complaining of throat irritation, what was the explanation?
Test Subject: “Doctor, these Luckies really irritate my throat and make me cough.”
Doctor: “Interesting … It looks as if the Luckies have caused you to cough and feel irritation in order to scare away more severe cases of cough and irritation.
Test Subject: “Makes sense. They are toasted.”
Packing on her wedding day? At least give her a day off so her body can properly absorb the semen.
I don’t really know where to go with this one. Going by the “right combination” slogan at the bottom, I’m guessing the ad company got a bunch of guys around a table and made them think up other “right combinations.” The most politically correct one they could come up with was a woman in a wedding dress putting a carton of cigarettes into a suitcase. The original idea was to have the woman naked, reclining on a bed, holding two feather dusters, and rolling a carton’s worth of Chesterfields with her labia, but the male artist had never seen a feather duster before and was unable to produce a realistic rendition.
I am a little confused about the time line. What kind of ragtag ship is the man running where the wife is packing her suitcase while wearing her wedding dress? She should have had that shit packed days in advance. And isn’t the “packed with pleasure” slogan a little obvious? — The Chesterfields are getting packed into the suitcase. I think the wedding theme hurts this ad. There are a lot of things marriage is packed with, but none of them is pleasure.
If you see any other vintage ads you’d like me to post about, send em in to Bryan AT Mediabane DOT com.
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I actually remember cigarette ads like these. My favorite was the Marlboro man. He apparently was so short of breath he had to ride a horse all the time.